After about 17 months of wear, I took my Weymouths into Rekaris today to ask his opinion on the condition of the sole. He said I can still Topy them now, for $35. Which means that the sole still has a bit of life left in it (enough to put a Topy on). A half re-sole is $45, and a full re-sole is $120-ish (can't quite remember the exact detail).

Of course, the devil is in the details. He's not sure if the guy in charge of re-stitching (who used to work for RM Williams) can do a channeled-sole shoe.
Nor is he confident that he can hide the stitching from above, so the sole will be a fraction wider (it will look like a standard Loake or Church sole).
And of course, he can't get water-resistant oak-bark leather in this country anymore (because the guy who used to make it has gone out of business).

American Tailors will take care of the entire process for me for between $250-$280 which is on par with what C&J New York charge for a full return-to-factory process. Other posts on the forum say the London stores charge about 100 pounds, not including postage.

As I'm not exactly flush with cash at the moment (and I'm hoping to buy a new pair of Chukkas sometime this year) I might just Topy them now, and get them resoled in a few more years.

I've also read (on other threads in this forum) that C&J can only resole your show a finite number of times. They won't offer the service for a shoe that has already had two resoles.

Any other thoughts on the matter are appreciated

My understanding on the limited resoles is that each time the sole is machine stitched to the welt, a new set of holes is created. Too many sets and your welt doesn't have the integrity to hold the sole any better than a cemented sole. I'd suspect at this point the rib which the welt attaches too is probably stuffed, so stitching a new welt on wouldn't be an option (if there's even a decent repair place in Australia that can do that.). One option is to find a very good local cobbler and have them hand stitch a new sole on, using the same holes, although this is probably both hard to find, and expensive.

In regards to American Tailors vs C&J London, if you like 100 pounds plus shipping both ways, you'd be mighty close to the price that AT is charging. ($80-100 Airmail to the UK, shipping back shouldn't be too bad.)

I wouldn't be too concerned about getting a channelled sole put on them. While it's nice, it's not something that would both me, although YMMV.

About the only other option I can think of is B Nelson in the US. The forum seems to love his work and I'd suspect it'd be cheaper going to the US than the UK.

In regards to topying, it's clearly the easiest and most cost effective option. You extend the life of the shoe without putting more wear on the welt, and you also gain some inclement weather advantage, as well as grip. That said, you lose the leather sole.

After about 17 months of wear, I took my Weymouths into Rekaris today to ask his opinion on the condition of the sole. He said I can still Topy them now, for $35. Which means that the sole still has a bit of life left in it (enough to put a Topy on). A half re-sole is $45, and a full re-sole is $120-ish (can't quite remember the exact detail).

Of course, the devil is in the details. He's not sure if the guy in charge of re-stitching (who used to work for RM Williams) can do a channeled-sole shoe.
Nor is he confident that he can hide the stitching from above, so the sole will be a fraction wider (it will look like a standard Loake or Church sole).
And of course, he can't get water-resistant oak-bark leather in this country anymore (because the guy who used to make it has gone out of business).

American Tailors will take care of the entire process for me for between $250-$280 which is on par with what C&J New York charge for a full return-to-factory process. Other posts on the forum say the London stores charge about 100 pounds, not including postage.

As I'm not exactly flush with cash at the moment (and I'm hoping to buy a new pair of Chukkas sometime this year) I might just Topy them now, and get them resoled in a few more years.

I've also read (on other threads in this forum) that C&J can only resole your show a finite number of times. They won't offer the service for a shoe that has already had two resoles.

Any other thoughts on the matter are appreciated

Of all your options, personally I'd send them to the Burlington Arcade store. Then again didn't Fox81 have a pretty good outcome recently with McClouds for around $130ish from memory?

Still waiting. Expect it to be here by Tuesday next week. Mail to my office has been really slow lately. Took over 7 days for a letter to reach Adelaide from Townsville (not affect by the floods).

Even though t/ville wasn't affected they still are because there was about 2 days where the road between NSW and QLD was closed off, creating this huge backlog of mail/goods. We use startrack a lot at the day job and they are outsourcing their deliveries at the moment to delfast to catch up.

lachyzee - I've been experimenting with a couple of different options on monogramming. I've stuck to the left rib-cage area. Some shirts have very light threading on the monogram, some have a bit more contrast, and I have a pink shirt that has pink threading on it - it looks invisible. I prefer to err on the conservative side, too. But what you see was work-in-progress to get to that decision/realisation. (There are still many things about classic menswear that are work-in-progress.)

Haha Michael, that's my tailor's place in Singapore (and honestly, probably the only true bespoke tailor in Singapore for suits) - only the light blue linen jacket is mine, in mid-commission. Thanks all the same, though!

As a side bar, that outfit kinda captures the mix of high-and-low cost items that young guys, starting out, should feel comfortable in: Finding the optimality between price and quality; wearing what fits well and lasts, and not simply wearing labels; not dropping wads of cash (worse, if it's on credit) on a complete bespoke wardrobe just because.. it's 'bespoke'. I was 27 in that picture, I didn't 'need' a bespoke pair of white cotton chinos then, and I still don't.

Almost forgot, lachyzee - used to be a lawyer in Singapore, moved to Sydney and almost applied to work for PJ, but stuck to the Law.

Jaz - thank you and will do, as and when appropriate. The recent debate on menswear 'rules' got me thinking a little. Still deciding if I should save it for the memoirs lol

My understanding on the limited resoles is that each time the sole is machine stitched to the welt, a new set of holes is created. Too many sets and your welt doesn't have the integrity to hold the sole any better than a cemented sole. I'd suspect at this point the rib which the welt attaches too is probably stuffed, so stitching a new welt on wouldn't be an option (if there's even a decent repair place in Australia that can do that.). One option is to find a very good local cobbler and have them hand stitch a new sole on, using the same holes, although this is probably both hard to find, and expensive.

In regards to American Tailors vs C&J London, if you like 100 pounds plus shipping both ways, you'd be mighty close to the price that AT is charging. ($80-100 Airmail to the UK, shipping back shouldn't be too bad.)

I wouldn't be too concerned about getting a channelled sole put on them. While it's nice, it's not something that would both me, although YMMV.

About the only other option I can think of is B Nelson in the US. The forum seems to love his work and I'd suspect it'd be cheaper going to the US than the UK.

In regards to topying, it's clearly the easiest and most cost effective option. You extend the life of the shoe without putting more wear on the welt, and you also gain some inclement weather advantage, as well as grip. That said, you lose the leather sole.

Unlike a lot of members I don't get my shoes Topy'd as soon as I get them. I now have a few pairs where I have worn down the heel almost to the second 'layer', so one by one I'm getting a new (rubber) layer on the heel put on and a Topy on the sole. Seems to work fine, it's cheap and as far as I know, you can keep replacing the heel/Topy indefinitely?

Of all your options, personally I'd send them to the Burlington Arcade store. Then again didn't Fox81 have a pretty good outcome recently with McClouds for around $130ish from memory?

yes, just do this. theyre the only place that can properly resole a goodyear welted shoe in australia, although the guys from beggar man thief claimed they can too.
otherwise have a chat to double monk on smith st. they said they were going to offer some resole/refurb options, but if they involve going back to the factory, then youre paying a lot more than i did.

Oh, and please dont topy your shoe. if you wanted a rubber soled shoe to begin with, then why didnt you just buy one.

Oh, and please dont topy your shoe. if you wanted a rubber soled shoe to begin with, then why didnt you just buy one.

THIS!

I got torn apart for bad-mouthing topy when i first joined this forum but ive ruined shoes by topying them. Everyone needs a pair of rubber soles for rainy days so get some! dainite on the carminas etc .. plus they are comfy:)